Glee

Glee, American musical comedy television series that aired on the Fox network (2009–15). Its inventive blend of broadly satiric humour, heartfelt drama, and dynamic musical productions earned it a loyal following.

Cast of Glee.

Twentieth Century Fox

Cocreated by producers Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, Glee centred on the travails of a glee club (technically a show choir) at the fictional William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio. The choir, called New Directions, is led by Will Schuester (played by Matthew Morrison), a likable young teacher who takes charge of the group after its previous director is fired. At the beginning of the series, its members included the talented but conceited Rachel Berry (Lea Michele); the stylish Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), who is gay; Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley), an African American girl with a powerful voice; and Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale), a sweetly unassuming paraplegic. Despite its generally unpopular reputation at the school, New Directions soon managed to attract other students, such as Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith), the football team’s star quarterback, and Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron), the head of the cheerleading squad.

Many of the show’s plotlines stemmed from the often volatile relationships between the club’s members, as well as from Will’s efforts to motivate the students in a series of competitions against rival choirs. (By the end of the third season, the club had performed well enough to win the national show-choir finals.) Will’s personal life also fueled the ongoing narrative. While undergoing a divorce, he navigated a relationship with a school guidance counselor, Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays), that, although frequently thwarted, eventually led to their marriage. Throughout the series, comic relief was provided by the megalomaniacal, acid-tongued cheerleading coach (and, later, school principal) Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), who pursues numerous routes of sabotaging Will and the choir. By the fourth season of Glee, several New Directions members had graduated from McKinley High, and the show followed their lives beyond Lima while continuing to integrate new characters into the cast.

Perhaps the defining characteristic of Glee, however—and for many viewers the central appeal of the show—was the fact that each episode interwove several songs performed by the cast. While scripted musical series had been attempted on television before, none experienced the critical and popular success of Glee. Nearly all the songs in Glee were cover versions of familiar recordings and were drawn from a range of musical styles, from Broadway show tunes to classic rock standards and contemporary pop hits. Accordingly, each episode typically featured a diverse set of music, though some were devoted to a single artist, such as Madonna or Britney Spears. Beginning in the show’s first season, individual songs from each episode were made available for purchase at the iTunes Store the same week the episode aired. This promotional strategy reaped considerable benefits, as millions of digital songs were sold, and, in the process, dozens of singles credited to the cast landed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Although few remained for longer than a week, in 2011 the Glee cast broke Elvis Presley’s record of 108 total entries on the chart. Additionally, several traditional sound track albums were released.

During its run, Glee won numerous awards, including the Golden Globe Award for best television comedy or musical series for each of its first two seasons. The show extended its brand with The Glee Project (2011–12), a reality television program that served as an audition for a recurring role in the series, and the theatrical film Glee: The 3D Concert Movie (2011), which documented a live concert tour featuring members of the Glee cast.